Patent Application
20140274601
The present invention generally relates to an exercise device. More particularly, the present invention pertains to an elastic resistive exercise band.
Resistive exercising has long been incorporated into athletic training and therapeutic regimens in order to help prevent injury, enhance performance, and rehabilitate muscles after injury or surgery. Conventional isometric or isotonic exercise devices have been used to provide avenues for strength training and muscle therapy without the cost and space required with more bulky equipment. In particular, many types of single loop bands or single strip bands of elastic material have been developed that allow a user to manually exercise based solely on the resistive action provided by the band. For example, the user may exercise with an endless loop band by holding the band toward one end with a hand or a foot and attaching the other end of the band to a stationary object, such as a door, or holding the other end with another hand or foot. Often, in order to obtain and maintain a proper grip on conventional bands, a user must loop the band multiple times around their hand or foot, or tie knots at an appropriate location in the band. These methods to provide effective handles at appropriate locations along a conventional band often result in damage to the band and/or a localized pressure on the hand or foot area, i.e., a cutting in of the band, due to a significant narrowing of the band in and around the area of the knot. To avoid this digging-in effect of the knotted band, the user may rely almost entirely on a finger grip, for example, rather than mounting the band over a larger portion of an extremity, such as a wrist or ankle. Some users, such as the elderly or those with extensive damage to the muscles of the hands or feet, for example, may not be able to effectively grip the bands and thus may deviate from a therapeutic regimen prescribed by a physician to strengthen and/or rehabilitate damaged muscles and/or cause additional injury to themselves. To alleviate this discomfort, some users may rely on special handles that have to be separately attached to the exercise device, resulting in additional cost and complexity that can be discouraging to users.
There is a need for an exercise device that permits easy and efficient use without the need to reconfigure the device with knots or constricting loops, wherein an isotropic nature of the material used to make the device allows the device to easily contour to the shapes of surfaces, providing reduced slip when mounting to various objects, for example, while simultaneously being capable of shaping to the contours of a user's anatomy for added comfort.
The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the present invention, wherein in some embodiments an exercise device that is capable of overcoming the disadvantages described herein at least to some extent is provided.
The present disclosure provides in some embodiments, a device for exercising muscles that relies on the resistive properties of a material used to produce a series of flexible loops. The device can be formed from strips of elastic material periodically joined at select intervals. More particularly, an exercise device includes a first elastic material portion having a first face and a second face disposed opposite the first face, a second elastic material portion having a third face and a fourth face disposed opposite the third face, and a plurality of joining regions, wherein the second face of the first elastic material portion attaches to the third face of the second elastic material portion at each joining region. Each joining region is capable of simultaneous multidimensional stretching when subjected to or released from an applied load.
In accordance with other aspects of the present disclosure, an assembly of integrally connected exercise devices includes a first exercise device integrally connected to a second exercise device. Each exercise device includes a first elastic material portion, a second elastic material portion, a plurality of joining regions periodically attaching the first elastic material portion to the second elastic material portion, and a plurality of consecutive loops, each loop defining an open space between consecutive joining regions and between the first elastic material portion and the second elastic material portion, wherein each joining region is capable of separation into two smaller joining regions, the first smaller joining region defining a closed end of the first exercise device and the second smaller joining region defining a closed end of the second exercise device when the first exercise device and the second exercise are separated.
In accordance with yet other aspects of the present disclosure, an exercise device includes an elongate strip formed from an elastic material and folded over to form a first portion and a second portion disposed opposite the first portion, and a plurality of joining regions periodically provided along a longitudinal length of the elongate strip to connect areas of the first portion to areas of the second portion and form a plurality of consecutive closed loops.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof, herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
Various aspects of an exercise device may be illustrated by describing components that are coupled, attached, and/or joined together. As used herein, the terms “coupled”, “attached”, and/or “joined” are used to indicate either a direct connection between two components or, where appropriate, an indirect connection to one another through intervening or intermediate components. In contrast, if a component is referred to as being “directly coupled”, “directly attached”, and/or “directly joined” to another component, there are no intervening elements present.
Relative terms such as, for example, “lower” or “bottom”, “upper” or “top”, “end” or “ends”, “face” or “base”, may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of an exercise device in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. By way of example, if aspects of an exercise device shown in the drawings are turned over, elements described as being on the “bottom” side of the other elements would then be oriented on the “top” side of the other elements. The term “bottom” can therefore encompass both an orientation of “bottom” and “top” depending on the particular orientation of the apparatus.
As shown in
The joining regions 18, which may appear ridged as in
In accordance with other aspects of the present disclosure, rather than a ridged crimping tool, a crimping tool may be used that provides for any suitable smooth, textured, and/or embossed surface appearance. The material of the base portion 12 and the top portion 14 may be configured to have a smooth, textured, and/or embossed surface appearance.
In accordance with yet other aspects of the present invention, large spools, rolls or folded stacks, for example, of a series of connected exercise devices 10 may be provided, whereupon a practitioner may individually remove an individual exercise device 10 from the assembly by cutting through one of the joining regions 18 at a desired length. The practitioner may thus control the individual length of each exercise device 10 to suit a particular user's needs while maintaining a compact arrangement for storage. Alternately, the spool length of connected exercise devices 10 may be scored along joining regions 18 at particular lengths to enable easy and efficient removal of an individual exercise device 10 from the larger collection of spooled exercise devices.
As shown in
The consecutive loops 16 on the exercise device 10 allow for quick positioning of the device 10 when mounting the device to an object, for example. Rather than having to tie the device 10 around an object, one end of the device 10 may be quickly wrapped around a suitable mounting portion of the object and routed through one of the loops 16, preferably near the other end of the device 10. Continued pulling on the first end of the device 10 may then simply cinch a portion of the device 10 closed around the mounting portion of the stationary object. To quickly remove the exercise device 10, the user simply releases the active end of the device 10 and pulls on the loop 16 through which the exercise device 10 was originally threaded. The threaded loop 16 eventually disengages the active end and releases the active end to freely dismount the exercise device 10 from the object.
A user generally relies on the resistive nature of the material used to construct the base portion 12 and top portion 14 of the exercise device 10. In this manner, the base portion 12 and/or top portion 14 may be composed of an elastic material having a certain thickness and/or that is dimensioned to impart a particular range of resistance to a user exercising with the device. In this manner, an identification system may be used to indicate a series of exercise devices having progressive levels of resistance. For example, a system of numbers, colors, letters, symbols, patterns, or any other appropriate marking may be used to indicate a system of exercise devices having progressive levels of resistance.
In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, the elastic material used to construct the base portion 12 and top portion 14 may be an isotropic material capable of stretching similarly in any direction. The isotropic nature of the material allows the material to easily contour to the shapes of surfaces, providing better grip when mounting to various objects, for example, while simultaneously being capable of shaping to the contours of a user's anatomy. The isotropic material may thus provide a more effective and comfortable resistive type exercise apparatus, and allow a greater range of exercises to be performed using the device.
In addition, the elastic nature of the material provides for a homogeneous stretch and recovery of loaded portions of the exercise device, the material stretching similarly under an applied load across both the joining regions and loops to provide a consistent progression for the user without a bottoming out or abrupt stop that is often experienced when using a conventional exercise device. For example, conventional exercise devices comprising a fabric component in combination with elastic webbing experience a specific endpoint limitation due to the inelastic nature of the fabric material, causing the abrupt stop or bottoming out sensation that can be uncomfortable to a user and limiting the range of exercises that can be performed using the device. During recovery, the nature of the elastic material of the present invention providing a consistent elongation across the joining regions and the loops allows for a smooth and consistent recovery of the exercise device back toward the rest state. Furthermore, exercise devices based on a fabric component are subject to an increased wear of the fabric material, which can change the intended level of resistance and the consistency of elongation over time with respect to the exercise device. In addition, fabric based devices are often much more slippery making mounting the device on an object in accordance with the methods disclosed herein much more dangerous and less effective for performing a broader range of exercises.
Although the exercise device 10 may be mounted to a stationary object, such as a door handle, for example, the exercise device 10 may also be cinched in the manner described above around a user's torso, for example, or various portions of the legs and arms. In this manner, a user may be free to quickly and efficiently use the exercise device 10 in a wide variety of ways to perform a wide variety of resistance type exercises. In addition, by providing a series of consecutive loops 16, the exercise device 10 provides multiple positions for gripping the exercise device 10, reducing the need for a wide variety of exercise device 10 lengths to accommodate the many different anatomical dimensions for a wide array of users. In addition, the smaller radius of curvature of the consecutive loops 16 provided on the exercise device, when compared to a traditional endless loop band, for example, provides a generally more secure grip when the loop 16 is used during any range of exercises.
Other advantages of the exercise device 10 include that use of the loops 16 of the exercise device 10 are more intuitive to an unfamiliar user when compared to an endless open band, for example. Moreover, a user may more easily use the loops 16 to appropriately grip the exercise device 10 without having to tie knots in the device, knots that can apply substantial digging pressure due to the applied pressure of a narrowed band material against a user's body. The user may rely on the open sides of a loop 16 to more naturally and ergonomically mount the exercise device on a hand, foot, wrist, ankle, or any other suitable portion of a user's body, and to use the exercise device 10 comfortably and efficiently and in accordance with instructions. The ease of use and efficiencies realized through use of the exercise device 10 may permit users to more quickly move through a series of exercises or routines, which may result in increased user compliance and higher sustained heart rate.
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, because numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of the invention.
